The present invention relates to a device for separating a golf club head from its associated shaft to permit repair, adjustment or replacement of the shaft or the head as may be required. More specifically, the apparatus of the present invention will enable more accurate and rapid separation of a club head from its shaft while minimizing or eliminating any damage to the shaft or head itself.
In the field of the golf club design, the practice of aligning the detected spine of a shaft relative to the face of a club is becoming more widespread. To effect such alignment, it is necessary to first remove the club head from its associated shaft to allow the technician to test the shaft and to carry out the realignment relative to the club face in order to improve the club performance or to remove anomalies in the use of the club. In removing a club head, it is important and necessary to avoid any damage to the shaft. This has in the past required a great deal of time on the part of the technician.
Several separation devices have been developed and these generally include a gripping device which operates adjacent to the hosel of the club. Such devices have been time consuming to operate and often resulted in scratching of the customer""s shaft. In addition, the prior art devices have not lent themselves to installation in a production facility so as to allow the devices to be used in a high production line. In some cases, the prior art devices have effected the separation in a manner to render the shaft useless for future use thereby requiring replacement. In still other arrangements, the prior art relied upon the manual strength of the technician to effect the separation and this also has led to damage to the club head and/or the shaft.
The separation device of the present invention avoids the foregoing difficulties by providing a device that will accommodate a variety of different shaft diameters in an accurate manner and which will apply a uniform separation force in a uniform direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft thereby avoiding a primary source of the damage to the shaft and club head encountered with prior devices. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a base that defines an extended and padded gripping portion for the shaft at a location on the shaft that is spaced from the club head. A separation member is provided in the form of a disk that is rotatably mounted on the base by means of a shaft which is engaged by a pusher member or plunger through a resilient connection. The pusher member may be connected to a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator cylinder to provide the force necessary to effect translation of the shaft and the disk away from the base member to effect separation. The periphery of the disk is slotted with the slots being of different sizes to allow the disk to engage a range of different diameter shafts.
With the arrangement of the present invention, much more rapid and safer extraction of the shaft from a club head can be effected than was previously possible. The foregoing and other advantages will become apparent as consideration is given to the following description and drawings, in which: